Silver Lining Strategy

Strategy 2022 "Making a difference requires the integration of the best available research, practical expertise……., and the insider perspective within the context of individual characteristics, cultures, values and preferences’" - Professor Karen Guldberg (2019) Inaugural Lecture University of Birmingham

This strategy document outlines the core principles of the internships offered to young people at Silver Lining to enable best practice which is based upon the most recent research and fundamentals of good practice. Experienced job coaches and support staff will implement programmes for all internships and these will be developed in collaboration with the young person and their family. The most pivotal role we undertake at Silver Lining is to safeguard our interns. This is particularly so when we are supporting interns who may be vulnerable because of additional learning needs. Safeguarding underpins everything we do and there will be a named, trained safeguarding lead who is known to all interns.

We strive to aspire to excellence in our practice. Three key questions need to be addressed to develop excellence in autism research and practice:

How can we develop a more holistic understanding of young people with autism by drawing on different disciplines?
Why do we need closer alignment between research and practise in autism support?
What are the implications from the answers to the previous two questions for approaches and methods that are needed in the workplace?

This strategy will outline how we can fully understand autism and how we can draw on a number of domains of knowledge. At Silver Lining we believe that autism is a ‘difference’ and not a ‘deficit’ and therefore our response outlines how we can most effectively work with a population who perceive, communicate and interact with the world in a different manner. This work is based upon the research of Damian Milton’s ‘Double Empathy Theory’ and the ‘intersubjectivity’ between people with autism and without. Milton outlines that people with autism often lack insight about non autistic perceptions and culture, however it is equally true that non autistic people lack insight into the minds and culture of people with autism.

Our programme and approaches recognise these fundamental differences and addresses them from both perspectives whilst celebrating diversity. Narratives from autistic people often state that it is not the autism itself that causes difficulties, but the expectations, interaction and responses they get from other people. Our core mission is to empower our interns to achieve their ambitions through positive bespoke experiences and equal opportunities. We achieve this via a community which is socially inclusive and recognises the strengths of all members of our intern team. Our pedagogy is developed from this.

There is no unified theory on learning emerging from the educational community, the power of education as a discipline comes from its potential to understanding learning from the perspective of the individual learner as well as the context (Hodkinson et al). We believe that Silver Lining offers a unique experience to develop skills in employment as well as ongoing learning support for each individual.

Our model is based on the Autism Education Trust Framework, The Autism Centre for Education and Research, and the 8 principals of good autism practice which emerged from research evidence, practice and policy by Professor Guldberg (2019) which are:

Understanding the strengths, interests and challenges of the autistic child and young person
Enabling the voice of the autistic child and young person to contribute to and influence decisions
Collaboration with parents and carers of autistic children and young people
Workforce development to support autistic children and young people
Leadership and management that promotes and embeds good autism practice
An ethos and environment that fosters social inclusion for children and young people on the autism spectrum
Targeted support and measuring progress of children and young people on the autism spectrum
Adapting the curriculum, teaching and learning to promote wellbeing and success for autistic children and young people.

These principals are relevant for any learning environment which promote ongoing selfawareness self-development and preparation for adulthood as well as skill acquisition for employment. We will use these against four key themes: Understanding the individual with autism and enabling them to have a voice. Positive and effective relationships across our community between all staff Enabling environments which support inclusion. Effective implementation of plans to enhance and support work-based learning, vocational skills, emotional well-being and development of lifelong learning skills. We believe that this strategy will support internships at Silver Lining to be a positive, meaningful and constructive learning environment.

Understanding the individual with autism and enabling them to have a voice.

It is important that we understand what is distinctive for young people with autism. We need to know the areas of difference and co-occurring difficulties. We need to understand the oftenuneven development and the sensory differences which may present unique challenges. It is also vitally important that we identify the most appropriate and developmentally relevant means to enable social communication. MAPs and PATHs approaches will be used to determine the aspirations and wishes of the intern. These will be developed alongside Individual Learning plans which will break down aims and objectives.

Positive and effective relationships across our community between all staff and customers

As a community we must be skilled at signposting interns to appropriate services and support. We must fully embrace the unique needs and challenges and be mindful of the impact of stress on the individual. Our programmes must be developed with staff who are highly skilled in understanding autism as a lack of knowledge impacts negatively on the experience of our interns. A philosophical shift is needed to celebrate neurodiversity.

Enabling environments which support inclusion.

We must restructure cultures, policies and practices in our setting which matches the current cohort of interns as this will allow us to enact statutory obligations to create enabling environments. We must also take proactive steps to support staff with therapy. We must provide structured, understandable and predictable learning environments as well as using a variety of means to communicate. We must also promote and nurture positive relationships with other interns, support staff and customers.

Effective implementation of plans to enhance and support learning, vocational skills, emotional wellbeing and lifelong learning skills. It is vital that we address and identify and address barriers to learning. It is also extremely important that we offer bespoke programmes to enhance social and emotional awareness, communication, social understanding and inclusion, daily life skills, independence and autonomy. ICT should be used as a tool for learning. Our interns need a broad and balanced programme that addresses the learning needs of young people with autism and their social, emotional well-being, communication needs and life skills. There will be opportunities to also prepare for future employment with programmes offering development of cv, interview skills, and global work place skill development. Interns must be involved in plans to prepare them for adulthood; they must be supported to recognise interests, strengths and areas for development. It is also vital that support staff understand the potential vulnerability of interns, and appropriate steps to reduce this.